The Light
by Marie Allen
Summary: AU Dwayne and Allison are finally settling into a relationship. But what happens when her ex shows up? R for adult themes.


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                                                            The Light

                                                        By: Marie Allen

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Life really was a funny thing. One minute you could be the most pitiful creature on earth, and then the next you could be full of energy; one could go through hundreds of emotions in just a day, be it happy, sad, terrified, relaxed, or at peace. It didn't matter because you were living for the day. Once the day passed, it would never come back again no matter how hard you tried to relive it or reconstruct it in your memory. That was another odd thing; memory. You could remember what you wore for your first day of school or your first crush's smile, but you can't remember what you had for dinner the night before. Everyone says that because that is actually something that links everyone together. Sure, everyone is different, but deep down we are all alike. We all have similar features even if that little girl had six toes instead of the 'normal' five. What, exactly, was normal though? There isn't a definition because there is no normal in our society. There is no normality in nature because we all turn out to be whom we want to be. There are people out there who can see what someone will become long before they themselves ever know. Unfortunately, I wasn't that kind of person. I hardly ever listened to my friends and their warnings of how Dan was ruthless and aggressive because to me, he had always been sweet and kind. At least I thought he had been. But after we broke up, and I met Dwayne, I just then realized how Dan was completely wrong for me and how glad I was to be gone with him. 

  
But like everything, there has to be a beginning. A light. For me, my life had been a darkness no matter how many loved ones I had or how happy I was. This was a memory that I'd never forget, much how many never forget their first day of school. The day was actually pretty hot and I had decided to wear a particular scandalous attire. My sports bra was damp with water that I had dumped over myself to keep cool. My shorts were how those sluttish teenage girls wore but hey. It was just around the house so no one would see. I usually wore them for exercising but, like I said, it was hot on that Miami afternoon. But unbeknownst to me, I had completely forgotten about the scheduled appointment I had made months ago with that particularly hot architect.   
  


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"Could it get any hotter?" I groaned. In response was only a small whimper and I gave him a look. "What are you complaining about? You get cool by sticking your tongue out and I already shaved you." Felix the little black mutt had adopted me a couple of months ago. I wasn't quite sure what he was, but it was a mixture of some terrier and some other small dog that I didn't know. Before him, I had been afraid of all dogs because of a particular situation from my childhood where I had pulled a Dalmatian's tail and had gotten bitten. Dalmatian's weren't really kid-friendly to begin with so that hadn't helped. But whatever. That was then and this was now.

  
The doorbell's ring startled us both and we sluggishly went to the door. When I peeked through the peephole, I frowned in confusion. What the hell...? Opening the door, it was all I could to not gawk and the gorgeous piece of manmeat that I had ever laid eyes on. Well, I guess the second time since I had met with him before. But what made him even hunkier was his white muscle shirt clinging to his obvious hot skin. It didn't take long for the temperature to rise a couple of degrees. Wait; couple? More like ten! 

  
"Ms. Jackson?" came his confident, tenor voice. It rang in my mind and all I could do was simply nod with probably the goofiest smile that I had ever worn. His perfectly molded hand reached out and I absently shook it as he continued. "I'm Dwayne Johnson." The puzzled look must have been completely obvious. "The architect?"

  
After the embarrassment had surpassed and the lemonade gone, I still felt stupid. Nom more like mortified! How could I have forgotten this Greek god's appointment? God, I felt so stupid. But it had been over and time to move on. We chatted idly as I told him my plans of adding a second story. My nieces and nephews were ecstatic that their only aunt lived in such a 'sweet place' like Miami and I didn't really have the room for them. We were all really close and it killed me to see them in a hotel. I thought it was rude. I thought that he had been writing while I talked, taking down notes and the like, but I didn't really pay that much attention to it. After I finished telling him my ideas, we continued to idly chat. Well, it was more like blunt out flirting. How could I stop myself? The man was just too damn hot not to. 

I found out that, to my actual great pleasure, he was single and had never been married. I, also single, found this new delightful situation to stay wide open for as long as she possibly could. I was going to tell him about a new change of plans on my design, but when he should me that he had actually been sketching instead of taking notes, I couldn't. It was actually really beautiful. Although I hadn't said anything, he had added a fairly large balcony. But it was beautiful with the potted trees and plants...

"So you think that a balcony would bring out a homely touch?" It was something that I had wanted.

"Absolutely. It's one of the in things to do now, too, and it's actually inexpensive despite what everyone else seems to think."

That perked my attention. Although my brothers were both married with children, when my father died they insisted that I take the money. I was flabbergasted at the thought, though, because I didn't have a family and didn't need that much. They were both well off and thought that I should keep so I could 'retire early and stay with my children' when I finally did marry. It was sweet on their part and extremely thoughtful. It was for that reason, well, one of them, that I didn't mind adding on. 

When he left, I was extremely giddy. The man was a total hunk! I would definitely be dreaming tonight.

And for the rest of the couple of months after that, actually.

Basically to make a long story short, we started going out and things were actually really well with us. So well, in fact, that I had completely forgotten about my obsessive ex-boyfriend so Dan never once popped into my mind.

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Architecture was never something that I thought that I would get into, but once I did in college, I thought that it was actually a blast. Whenever I would tell the guys that, they'd laugh and make fun of me but I didn't care after a while. At first I was really upset about it but, nah. If they couldn't respect my choice of a profession, then they could stick their calculators right up their asses, or whatever it was they were using. This was my life and not theirs.

Something I had prided myself in was the fact that I never let my emotions come between me and my clients. Whether I thought their ideas were stupid or how they wore their makeup too much, I never said a word or really gave a thought about it. But when I showed up on Allison's front door that changed everything. The whole thing was really sudden. I was surprised to see the conservative girl that I talked to over the counter wearing such an outfit, if it could be called that because it was so revealing. I could tell that she was surprised and seemed to have forgotten about today but the look of horror in her eyes but, like every other chick that I ran into, she had fallen under the sizzling smile that was mine. The difference between them and her, though, was that she didn't verbally say anything or do anything to accidentally touch my arm or hand as I sketched out her ideas or even smack my ass when I was standing. I was actually intrigued by that and wondered if she thought the same of the business-atmosphere as I did. I didn't realize it at first, but I found myself asking her to lunch that same day. After the words left, I found that I actually wanted to take her to lunch. The times we talked we both realized that we listened to the same music, watched the same shows, and had similar ideas on complete random topics. When she declined the offer I left her house in shock. No one had ever turned me down before.

The next time I asked her, I said it was for business and we were off. There was something about her that just drew me to her. She was real and authentic, unlike all the other whores I had gone out with. I didn't know why I was breaking my vow on my view on clients, but hell. There was a first for everything. Finally, about two weeks later, she agreed to meet me for breakfast. That had been four months ago and I still had no clue who Dan was.

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I was actually really excited about today. We had been going out for four months and never in my life had I felt happier. Her house was in the process of being built so I was still able to see her almost everyday. I had made reservations at her favorite restaurant, La Belle Fleur, about a month ago. Tonight was our four month anniversary and I wanted it to be absolutely perfect. When we sat down at our usual table in the back on the second-floor balcony, I smiled at her. Even though the stars were out and shined on the ocean down below, I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was so beautiful. Her usual shoulder length brown hair was pulled up with strands falling down her cheeks and the back of her neck. I wanted nothing more than to brush it away and kiss her but I resisted. When she turned her sparkling blue eyes back up to me and smiled, I swear that I felt my heart flutter. God, I was so cheesy.

"What do you think?" I softly asked, still staring at her.

"I love it. Thank you, baby." Grinning, she leaned over to me and kissed me. I was more than ready to kiss her back. We were still kissing when the fucking waiter cleared his throat and reluctantly we parted. After we ordered, I smiled at her again. 

"I want to give you your gift now." I started to reach into my side pocket.

"Dwayne...! I thought you said no gifts this time." I could see the panic in her eyes. They were always alive and full of energy.

"I know, but I couldn't resist." In order to make her calm, I reached for her hand and kissed the top lightly before flashing her the smile I always saved for her. "Close your eyes."

She had been grinning almost instantly when I took her hand and closed them as soon as I said it. I turned her hand the other way and gently gave her the long rectangular box. "Ok, now you can open them." Inside was a classic-diamond shaped sapphire necklace with two matching sapphire teardrop earrings. Each stone had diamonds around it and was enclosed in gold. Everything was real, even the sapphires, which had taken forever to find. So I twisted the truth a little bit but once I found them, I had to get them for her. She seemed speechless and I immediately took the necklace out and put it around her. Grinning, I kissed her lightly. "They bring out your eyes."

When she looked up at me, her own sapphires were glassy and I could tell that she was going to cry. I gently caressed her cheek and kissed her forehead. "Do you like it?"

"Oh, Dwayne, I love it... Them. Thank you so much." She wrapped her petite arms around me and pressed her lips up to mine and I gladly hugged her back, kissing her. I loved her kisses so much.

After dinner, we decided to go for a walk. The night was warm and there was hardly anyone on the beach. We held hands and stole kisses as we talked, her dress skimming across my legs. We walked out further than we should have, but we hadn't cared. I felt that I was some lovesick schoolboy and I think that she felt the same. When we were together, nothing mattered except for us; everything else was just a haze.

It was a foolish and stupid thing to do. Block things out. But when you were in love, that's all that did matter. You couldn't help it. You were under a spell.

We never heard them come up from behind us. I felt something hard against the back of head and the last thing that I was aware of was a scream. Who was that? When I came to I had to blink a couple of times to realize I was in a dark room. The throbbing in my head was killing me and I groaned. My wrists hurt like a bitch and I tried to move them to me, but something held them back. After managing to move my head up, I saw that both were tied up on the ceiling from above. What the hell? I tried to stand up to loosen the pain buy I all ready was with the exception of my knees bent a little. My head was too cloudy to fully comprehend where I was and I could barely keep my eyes open. It wasn't long before I passed out.

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What was that noise...? He wanted to go to it. The darkness around him started to turn into light as he came to, but when he opened his eyes, the light was too bright to take in. His head started to throb again. What was that? It sounded like crying. When he opened his eyes again and tried to control the pulsing in his head, he realized that he is still chained. What the hell was going on? The crying grew louder and he started to pull on the chains like earlier and not feeling the blood. Where was he? The thought hit him so hard that the pounding grew more intense. Where was Allison? He tried to choke out her name but nothing came out except more blood. What the fuck?

The door that he failed to notice suddenly slammed open and he turned to look at it, still trying to figure out his surroundings. But what he saw made his blood turn cold, for there was Allison. She was donned in nothing more than a thin chemise that barely covered her. She was thrown into the room and the door slammed shut behind her. Again, he tried to call out to her but blood yet again slipped out.

"Dwayne!" she sobbed as she ran to him, her legs barely holding her. She threw her arms tightly around him and continued to sob in his shoulder. Realization of what was happening, and what had happened, hit him. He pulled against the chains to try and comfort her but he couldn't. Instead, he merely leaned towards her and laid his head on hers.

"Allison..." he finally managed to whisper.

Fighting her tears, she pulled back far enough to look at him, seeing the blood for the first time. "What have they done to you...?" What had they done? He couldn't remember anything. He opened his mouth to say something, still unsure of what was happening. "Shh...don't talk, baby, ok?" There was something different about her voice but he couldn't tell what it was. Her finger on his cut lip made him close his eyes and, gently, he kissed it. If he had been more aware, he would have realized her voice had been raw from crying. 

He opened his eyes again and looked at her as best as he could but his eyesight was too fuzzy. "Are you...ok...?" He coughed again but this time nothing came out.

She frantically nodded and wrapped her arms tightly around him again, kissing his cheek twice. "They haven't done anything to me. I don't want you to-" she was cut off when the door was suddenly opened. A large man with one of the hugest necks he had ever seen stalked inside. His smirk was evil and he slammed the door shut again. She clenched to him.

"Dan?"

"Well, babe, I'm happy that you remember me. With your knew boyfriend and all, I thought you had forgotten all about little ol' me." His voice was deep and with some accent that he couldn't quite identify.

She continued to clench tightly to him as she tried to hold back a sob. "Why are you doing this? He hasn't done anything to you!" For the first time, he felt the throbs of pain move over his body. He was bloody from the places he had been beaten. Even if he had been unconscious, he felt the aftershocks of it pulsating through him now. Who was Dan?

He sneered. "He's taken you away from me, Allison. It's because of him that you're like this. Don't you remember how we used to be? How much we meant to each other? I'm only teaching him a lesson." His large, muscled hand reach for her and effortlessly wrenched her from Dwayne.

When he heard her screams, something snapped inside of him. Not knowing how, he dug up energy deep within him and he stood up straighter, pulling against the chains and ignoring the pain. "Let her go!" His voice, like Allison's, was raw. 

Dan smirked at him. "Well, well. It seems as if the reprobate wakes. For once." His smirk turned more sinister as he stared down at Allison who was frenetically hitting at him. Without hesitating, he backhanded her, which sent her falling to the floor. Once more Dwayne tried to thrust himself towards this new man. Dan smirked at him, pleased to find he got a reaction out of him while teaching her a lesson. "This is all your fault. If you had never came around we would still be together. You're the reason why she's crying and for whatever happens next."

Dwayne fought harder against the chains that restricted him from going to her and stopping him from hurting her. He was going to say something but a Allison's scream cut him off as he kicked her. Dwayne fought even harder, not even feeling the ends cut deeper into his all ready sore flesh. "You fucking bastard..." he choked out; blood was starting to ooze out once again. "Leave her alone...!"

Dan just smirked at him as he pulled his shirt over his head, going for his belt. "For once monkey boy, you're right." He lost his eyesight when the belt thrashed out at him, cutting his chin open where only moments earlier he had felt pureness. It seemed to Dwayne that only a couple of seconds had passed by when sight came back. Dan had just torn off the flimsy material that Allison had been forced to wear. Smirking, he looked over at the tied, bleeding man that was to his side. "Maybe this will also teach you a lesson." With that said, he turned back to the still-fighting girl on the floor. He had all ready torn off his own pants and with her being so weak, it was easy to hold her down despite her struggle.

Regardless of the fuzziness in his brain or even not-so-clear eyesight, Dwayne fought even harder as Dan mercilessly began to thrust into her. He shouted out when he physically shouldn't have been able to, mixing his yells of fury with Allison's cries of pain and horror. It was all music to Dan. With their voices and her writhing beneath his all ready sweating bodies, he was urged on faster. And the faster and harder he went, the stronger their cries heightened. It was over before it had even begun for both of them. Dwayne could see through his own hardened eyes that Allison's were equally hard and defiant. Words streamed out of her mouth that was usually sweet and kind. It seemed to anger Dan and he pulled back his hand, clenched it into a tight fist, and slammed it into her, shutting her up quickly with a sound smack. Not once had Dwayne stopped fighting the chains, still not feeling the now hot metal connect with his wrist bones.

He continued to it her with one hand, as his other stroked himself back to life. By the time she was turned over, her face matched Dwayne's. He forced her on her knees as he once more began to drive himself in her. She pitifully tried to fight him, her cries weak, and he hit her once again. This time a crack joined into the song that they created, confirming that he had snapped one of her ribs. Dan realized that this turned him on even more, making him harder than he ever had been before, and he began hitting her again and again, over and over as he continued to savagely thrust himself in her. Smiling in satisfaction, he didn't try to regain his breath. Turning her over, he grinned in amusement. Tears had stained her facing, washing away the blood. He could tell that he had finally broken this vixen and the dullness in her eyes proved it. He had won and she had lost. Playtime was over.

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I don't know what happened next. I never felt the chains cut me, or even when my wrists snapped. I was told it was because of the pressure I put against it when I fought. I didn't care what happened to me. I didn't want to breathe anymore, but I survived. Allison hadn't. He never stopped. That fucking bastard had continued to beat her and never cared about her cries. God, I can still hear them. My ears were still bleeding and I could still hear them. I'm so sorry Allison. I'm so sorry... I couldn't stop him from hurting you, baby. I couldn't and I tried. I tried so hard but it wasn't enough...

I was released from the hospital weeks later when I was told I could have left earlier. I didn't try to get better after they told me she had slipped away in the night. Even then I couldn't help her. I wasn't even there to tell her to wait for me or that I would never leave her side. Or even hold her one last time. Her last moments with me were vague but I could still feel her arms around me. I try not to think about it but it haunts me in my sleep. It's our anniversary that I remember the most. Our dinner; her smile and laughter; our fateful walk on the beach that would be our last happy moment together; her eyes. I miss her so much and there's nothing I can do to stop the pain. I would go after Dan and kill him for what he's done, but he's in jail. There's nothing more I can do. The police had barged in because someone had placed a call by hearing screams or something. I don't know. I don't want to know. 

As I lay on my bed, I cling the necklace and earrings I had given to her that night. They were found with her clothes, piled in a corner in the room where she had been locked in. It had been a month but it felt like years. Each aching day was a living hell. Only there was no fire burning or scotching me. She always said to move on and not dwell on past mistakes. She was strong and full of life but I now am frail and full of agony. Living here was a torture without her smile and laughter to brighten my days. Before I had met her, I was nothing. She made me something. She made me feel like a man instead of a thing without feelings. She made me who I was. Without her, I'm nothing. For four short months she had been with me and changed my life so drastically that I could never leave her behind.

I had been given a prescription of an over-the-counter drug that I never took until now. The empty bottle sat neatly on my nightstand. There was nothing else there except for a picture of Allison and me when we went fishing. She was wearing my fishing hat as I held her in my arms, laughing at each other. I wasn't crying now, for the first time since it happened. I could feel my body grow calm as my breathing became slower. I was finally happy. I was going to be with her again. I would be able to hold her in my arms and kiss her perfect face and see her smile. It would cause the darkness to fled and I would be in her light again. As I closed my eyes, I could hear her calling my name. I whispered to her. "I'm right here, Allison. I'm on my way. I'm finally here..." With one last shudder, I completely relaxed. I didn't hesitate and quickly started to the light.


End file.
